Method and means of automatically processing information contained on railroad cars



June 11, 1968 METHOD AND MEANS OF AUTOMATICALLY PROCESSING INFORMATIONCONTAINED ON RAILROAD CARS Filed Aug. 28, 1962 XYL RAtLROAD CAR NO. 0568v DATA ' PROCESSING SYSTEM f7 6. 4

& J 17 r 2 3 z INVENIOR :7 3 WORTH 6. E1540 BY F W g ATTORNEY w. G. READ3,388,237

Unitcd States Patent METHOD AND MEANS OF AUTOMATICALLY PROCESSINGINFORMATION CONTAINED ON RAILROAD CARS Worth G. Read, 3162 Hamline Ave.N., St. Paul, Minn. 55116 Filed Aug. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 220,008 3Claims. (Cl. 23561.12)

This invention relates generally to the identification of railroad carsand the like, and pertains more particularly to use of a binary code foridentifying certain information contained on the cars in an automaticmanner.

One feature of the invention is to eliminate the existing need for humanidentification of cars, such as railroad freight cars, and to therebyeliminate the time and effort that has hereinbefore been required.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a ready means by whichthe car will automatically identify itself and also convey to a suitableprocessing system any additional information that might be needed withregard to the particular car. It will be appreciated that when used inrailroad operations that it is extremely difiicult for the yardmasterand his personnel to keep track of all cars, the task being particularlyburdensome because of the difference in car types and also the ownershipof the various cars.

The invention also has an additional feature the provision of a markingarrangement that can be easily attached and removed from the variouscars as circumstances dictate. =In this regard, the invention has for anaim the provision of a low-cost strip of material that can contain thebinary information that is needed for maintaining records of the variouscar movements within a freight yard or when the cars are traveling alonga main railroad line.

Still another feature of the invention is to obtain the appropriateidentification and other information while the car is moving, therebysaving a tremendous amount of time in not having to stop the car at anyparticular location in order to obtain the required information.

Yet another feature is the provision of a marking system that can beempioyed without the need of any special equipment as far as the makingof the marking strip is concerned. More specifically, the inventionenvisages a strip of plastic material or metal having alternate bars andslits whereby appropriate bars can be easily torn away or otherwiseremoved in order to provide the information in a permanently coded form.In other words, the particular strip containing the binary informationcan be prepared on the spot while a railroad worker is viewing aparticular car, or may be prepared in advance from the consist lists orindividual Waybills of approaching trains.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a binary coded strip forrailroad operations and the like which will be long-lasting, such aswhen cars travel from one road to another in interchange thereby furthercontributing to its widespread use by various railroads.

It is also within the purview of the invention to provide a method andmeans of railroad car identification that is very unform and simple incharacter so that it can be adopted by various railroads on a compatiblebasis without an expenditure of any great sum for the equipment utilizedin reading and processing the information.

3,388,237 Patented June 11, 1968 "ice These and other objects and novelfeatures of the present invention will be more clearly and fully setforth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawing forming a part of the specification;

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a railroad freight car about topass over a pickup station which will automatically read the codedinformation that is contained on one or more of the car axles.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a plastic strip that has been originallyformed with alternate bars and slits.

FIGURE 3 is a view of the strip shown in FIGURE 2 after certain of thebars have been removed in order to provide the proper binary code withthe remaining bars.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the prepared strip of FIGURE 3showing the preferred form in which it appears just prior to theapplication thereof to one of the car axles.

FIGURE 5 shows one of the axles belonging to the railroad car of FIGURE1 in cross section with the strip of FIGURE 4 encircling same.

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing a second or extendedstrip with binary information arranged in a reverse order, it beingintended that a second strip be employed for identifying the car ofFIGURE 1 when it is moved in an opposite direction from that in which itwill be identified when employing only the strip of FIGURE 3. Thisarrangement also permits both strips or both ends of a single strip tobe read simultaneously when the car moves in either direction, providingan automatic double check or vertification for reliability or otherbenefits.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, it will be observed from this figure that aconventional railroad freight car 8 has been illustrated. The car 8includes a pair of trucks 9 each equipped with two pairs of Wheels 10mounted for ro tation with axles 11. The name of the railroad is denotedat 12 and the particular car number is shown at 13. For the sake ofcompleteness, a set of railroad tracks 14 have been pictured and areattached to a series of underlying ties 15, all as is customary.

Attention is now directed to FIGURE 2 where a plastic or metal strip hasbeen designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 16. The strip16 includes longitudinal marginal portions 17 of sufficient Width sothat one of them can conta n the numerical figures 1S signifying thevalue of the binary code. As will be understood, the code in thisinstance is to constitute four columns and the figures therefore are ofthe order: 1, 2, 4, and 8. In its initial form, the strip 16 includes anumber of transverse bars 19 with intervening or alternating slots 20.The slots can originally be formed by a simple punching or stampingoperation. It is also within the purview of the invention to have thebars 19 of any pronounced color that might be desirable for readyrecognition by the sensing system yet to be referred to. In someinstances, it will be desirable to have the strip 16 of aluminum orother metal instead of plastic so that the bars 19 will be quitereflective in character.

From FIGURE 1, it can be seen that the name of the railroad companyowning the car 8 has been indicated at 12 and the particular car numberat 13. Assuming that the code number for the name of the railroad is 73and that the car number 568, then certain bars 19 appearing in FIGURE 2will be removed so as to pro- 55 vide the proper number and location ofbars I? in FIG- URE 3.

For instance, in order to provide the binary equivalent of the decimaldigit 7, then only the bars 1 corresponding to the column locations ofl, 2, and 4- would be left. Stated somewhat differently, the bar 19associated with the column 8 would be removed. If the material used tomake the strip 16 is plastic, then it will be appreciated that thevarious bars 19 can be made thin enough or frangible enough so that theycan be easily broken away. Also, suitable perforations or weakened linescan be used so that the appropriate bars can be removed. When the strip16 is of sheet metal, then other similar means, such as shipping awaythe bars, can be resorted to. To constitute the 3 of 73, the bars underthe columns I and 2 would be the ones lift. Thus, various bank spaceswould be produced by the removal of the bars that are not needed inorder to provide the binary information. From what has been said, itwill be appreciated that a similar procedure would be utilized inproviding the number 568 more precisely 0563 as in the illustratedsituation car numbers up to 9999 can be processed.

The end result is that certain gaps or spaces 21, these gaps or spacesdiffering in width depending upon the number of bars 19 removed, willexist. Only the remaining bars 19 are instrumental in providing thedesired binary information that is to be used in identifying the car 8.For the purpose of making sure that the grouping will be understood, thegroups of remaining bars 19 constituting the number 73 have beenbracketed and identified by reference numeral 22, whereas the bars 19that signify the number 568 have been bracketed and are identifiable bythe reference numeral 23.

Having removed certain of the bars 19 that were originally present inFIGURE 2, the resulting strip has been distinguished in FIGURE 3 by thesuflix a. Thus, the strip of FIGURE 3 bears the reference numeral 16a.It is preferable that this strip 16a and the parent strip 16 beresilient and tend to form a circle as shown in FIGURE 4. Thisresiliency will facilitate the application of the strip 16a to one ofthe axles 11. All that the user need do is to flex the strip 16a into acondition such that it can be inserted over the axle fl and theresutling rela-' tionship has been depicted in FIGURE 5. If desired, asuitable adhesive or any other bonding agent or fastening means can beutilized in securing the strip 16a to the axle 11. In place of twoseparate strips it is preferable to provide a wider or extended singlestrip with codes arranged to read from the center outwardly, to avoidany chance of confusion in the strips at the time of application.

Returning to FIGURE 1 for a moment, it will be p rceived that anappropriate pickup head 24 has been shown between the rails of the track14. This pickup head can be of the photoelectric type and need not bedescribed in detail. The pickup head 24 must be such as to discriminatebetween the bars 19 that are left on the strip 16a from the various gaps21 that are formed by removing certain of the bars 19. The pickup headmay also be a dual type to read both halves simultaneously. The bars 19can be of a reflective nature or can have a color applied thereto inorder to provide a pronounced amount of difference. A light source canbe associated with the pickup 24.

A transmission line 25 leads from the pickup head 24 to a dataprocessing system 26. Here again, there are a number of data processingsystems that may be employed and it is not felt that the specificconstruction is necessary for an appreciation of the invention. Briefly,though, the pickup head 24 can produce an electrical pulse for eachtransverse bar 19 and these pulses can be transmitted via the line 25 tothe processing system 26. Suitable flip-flop circuits can be used forinitially receiving this information and the information can be thentransferred to an approll priate storage medium, such as punched ormagnetic tape.

From the information that has been presented up to this point, it shouldbe readily apparent that the method utilized in the practicing of myinvention involves the first step of initially preparing a strip ofsuitable material so that it contains alternating bars and slots.Thereafter certain of the bars are removed so that the remaining barswill constitute the binary pattern which is representative of theinformation that is to be interpreted. The car is passed over the pickupstation and the movement of the car is instrumental in providing thenecessary signals that are transmitted to the data processing system,the information so derived either being viewed immediately or stored forfuture use.

The one difliculty with the method described above resides in the factthat the car 8 would have to be moved in a particular direction in orderto present the binary information to the head 24 at the pickup station.To eliminate this inconvenience, it is contemplated that a second strip16b be prepared or that the strip I6 be of sufhcient length to form thestrips Ida and 16b. The same procedure is utilized in the preparation ofthe strip 16b, but from FIGURE 6 it can be discerned that theinformation is in a reverse order. Whereas the strip 16a of FIGURE 3would be read from left to right, the strip Ib of FIGURE 6 would be readfrom the right to the left. Consequently, when the second strip 161: ismounted on one of the axles Ill, it can register the appropriateidentifying information that is to be recorded and will do so when thecar is moved in an opposite direction from that in which it would bemoved in order to process the information from the strip 161:. Moves canthen be made back and forth, or in either direction, and the pickupmechanism will recognize the condition without alteration, with onecondition checking against the other for reliability and direction oftravel recorded by automatic action from flange of wheels.

As an alternate arrangement, the information may be read out byproviding a key signal at one end of the strip, and reading theinformation either in one direction or the other from this key signalpoint. The earlier arrangement has the advantage of providing the doublecheck for accuracy.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my method and means of automaticallyprocessing information contained on cars and the like, and while I haveendeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have itunderstood that changes may be made within the scope of the followingclaims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

I. A device for identifying car information of interest including:

a body including a pair of spaced parallel elongated strips,

parallel transverse bars integrally connecting said strips atsubstantially right angles thereto arranged in a binary patternrepresentative of said information of interest,

said bars and strips being formed of flexible resilient material andsaid bars being generally arcuate in form with the center of arcuationgenerally parallel to said strips.

2. The structure of claim 1 and in which said bars are symmetrical withrespect to the longitudinal center of the strip.

3. A member for identifying railroad car information including:

an elongated body of flexible resilient material having spaced parallelgenerally rectangular slots therein to provide a pair of parallel stripsextending along the longitudinal edges of said body and a series ofequally spaced parallel bars connecting said strips, said bars being ofa material readily separable from said strips so as to permit selectedstrips to be re- 5 6 moved so that the remaining strips form a binary2,710,962 6/1955 Fritze 235-616 code, and 2,746,679 5/ 1956 Stratton235-61.6 said body being of a material capable of being placed 3,045,9057/1962 Tarasuk 235-61.12 about the periphery of a railroad car axle.3,026,029 3/1962 Daniels 23561.12

5 References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 798,538 7/ 1958Great Britain. 2,320,150 5/1943 Loughridge 177-353 1183655 7/1959 France2,333,248 11/1943 Harvey 20046 2,612,994 10/1952 Woodland et al.23561.115 10 DARYL Emmmer- 2,194,057 3/ 1940 Simpson 104-26 MA'LCOLM A.MORRISON, Examiner. 2,656,497 10/ 1953 Schweighofer 20046 2,084,0526/1937 Walker n 23 5-61.12 P. J. HIRSCHKOP, J. SCHEIDER, AssistantExaminers.

1. A DEVICE FOR IDENTIFYING CAR INFORMATION OF INTEREST INCLUDING: A BODY INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED PARALLEL ELONGATED STRIPS, PARALLEL TRANSVERSELY BARS INTEGRALLY CONNECTING SAID STRIPS AT SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES THERETO ARRANGED IN A BINARY PATTERN REPRESENTATIVE OF SAID INFORMATION OF INTEREST, SAID BARS AND STRIPS BEING FORMED OF FLEXIBLE RESILIENT MATERIAL AND SAID BARS BEING GENERALLY ARCUATE IN FORM WITH THE CENTER OF ARCUATION GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID STRIPS. 